UN experts express concern over Mohammad Nourizad's condition
UN experts expressed their concern over the condition of Mohammad Nourizad, a civil rights activist imprisoned in Evin Prison, in a statement on Tuesday, May 4, and called for his immediate release. In the statement, Javed Rahman, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and a number of other UN experts stated that Mr. Nourizad’s health condition is so serious that if he continues to be deprived of medical treatment and care, he will face serious complications and possible death.
According to HRANA News Agency, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists Association in Iran, today, Tuesday, May 4, 2021, UN experts expressed their concern in a statement regarding the condition of Mohammad Nourizad, a civil activist imprisoned in Evin Prison, and called for his immediate release.
In this statement, Javed Rahman, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and a number of other UN experts stated that Mr. Nourizad's health condition is so serious that if he continues to be deprived of medical treatment and care, he will face serious health complications and possible death.
UN experts have described Mr. Nourizad’s situation as “symbolic of the situation of many political activists detained in Iran” and have called for his immediate release. The statement reported that Mohammad Nourizad was transferred to Loghman Hospital in Tehran on April 14, 2021, unconscious, and added that when Mr. Nourizad regained consciousness, he was confronted by someone who injected him with eight syringes without his consent or disclosure of their contents. Despite requests for an explanation and information about the contents of these syringes, he has not been provided with any information in this regard.
According to these experts, it is clear that Mohammad Nourizad's medical condition does not allow him to remain in detention, especially since the Forensic Medicine Organization had previously ordered his release on medical grounds.
Mohammad Nourizad suffers from underlying diseases such as asthma, heart problems, and blood pressure.
In mid-August 2019, a letter signed by 14 civil society activists calling for Ayatollah Khamenei’s resignation was published. A number of signatories were arrested and others were pressured after the letter was published. On August 10, 2019, Mr. Nourizad, along with a number of trade union and civil society activists, was arrested by security forces in front of the court of appeal of Kamal Jafari Yazdi, a university professor imprisoned in Mashhad Prison, and was transferred to Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad some time later. He was finally transferred from Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad to Evin Prison last year.
In the first part of his case, Mr. Nourizad was sentenced by Branch 4 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Mansouri, to 15 years in prison, 3 years in exile to Izeh, and a 3-year ban on leaving the country, on charges including “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic, insulting sacred places, insulting the leadership, disturbing public opinion, cooperating with foreign media, and participating in illegal gatherings.” This sentence was changed to 15 years in prison, 2 years in exile to Izeh, and a 2-year ban on leaving the country during the appeal stage by Branch 35 of the Khorasan Razavi Province Court of Appeal.
In August 2020, in the second part of his case, he was sentenced by the Mashhad Criminal Court No. 2 for being present in front of the building where the Kamal Jafari Yazdi Appeals Court was held, to 8 months of imprisonment, 74 lashes, and exile to Tabas on the charge of “disturbing public order,” and to 74 lashes on the charge of “spreading lies.” This sentence was ultimately confirmed by the Khorasan Razavi Province Appeals Court.
On May 29, Mr. Nourizad announced that the Ivanki County Court had issued him another one-year prison sentence for defending the rights of Baha'i citizens living in the city of Ivanki in Semnan Province.
Mr. Nourizad has a history of being arrested and convicted for peaceful civil society activities. Mohammad Nourizad is a 66-year-old Iranian director, screenwriter, and journalist. He was considered a hardline and religious journalist who joined the ranks of active critics of the Islamic Republic in the late 1980s and has been arrested and imprisoned many times in recent years for his civil society activities and visits to the families of political prisoners.
Source: HRANA
